Pathfinders of the Aturi Cluster
by Stormonu
Summary: A rag-tag group of rebel pilots, known as the Pathfinders, fight for the freedom from the oppressive Empire in the Aturi Cluster. Loosely based on our X-Wing miniatures games and the Aturi Cluster fan-made campaign. Rated "Teen" for mild action and violence.
1. Chapter 1

ONE – Local Trouble

"Rise and shine, Pathfinders," Trapper called over his headset as his scanner lit up from the ping of a nearby TIE fighter squadron. "Looks like we got their attention." With the flicks of a few switches, the engines on his worn Y-wing fought to ignite. As they sputtered, he thumped the top of his console. "C'mon you second-rate pile of spare parts," he chastised the machine, "Don't do this to me now."

"I read a group of three TIEs incoming," Mystic called out as he powered up his own X-wing and sped ahead of Trapper over the slowly rolling mass of rock. "There's two other flights sweeping the far edge of this tube rooter's field."

"I'll be just a moment," Tugboat called out as he began edging his battered Y-wing from behind the asteroid, "I'm spinning up the jammers so they can't call home."

"That's going to alert the other squadrons," Mystic warned, "If we strike fast and hard enough-"

"Let them come," laughed Kathhound, throttling his X-wing forward. Unlike the other three worn ships, the paint on his X-wing was almost new; the only scratches it had received had been from the space dust abrasing the hull as they had initially settled down to hide in the field.

Despite throttling up last, Kathhound was the first to sweep into the approaching TIEs. Without regard for his own safety, he flew straight through the trio of approaching TIEs, his lasers turning one into a fiery orange blossom as Tugboat struggled to keep up behind him.

To the left, Mystic's X-wing pulled ahead of Trapper's Y-wing. Mystic caught one of the remaining TIEs on the wing, pushing it off course but not destroying it. However, the statacco of laser fire from Trapper's Y-wing gunner caught the unbalanced TIE, spinning it back towards him so the second pulse from the Y-wing's turret caught the TIE in the cockpit, exploding it in green flames and vapor. "Nice shooting, Twofer," Trapper praised his gunner.

The lone remaining TIE flipped high as it shot past the Rebel squadron. Kathhound had already pulled on the stick of his own X-Wing and as the TIE returned to joust with the approaching X-Wing, Kathhound turned it into a fiery explosion with an alternating pulse from his four laser guns. "That got him!" he exclaimed over the comm.

"Just as I feared," Mystic cautioned, "The other wing has detected us – they're pulling around."

Kathhound was turning his X-Wing towards the approaching TIEs, but both Mystic's X-Wing and Trapper's Y-Wing was bearing down on the approaching trio.

As the TIE swarm roared in, Mystic's guns opened up first. Lasers careened off the leading TIE, throwing it out of formation. It attempted to avoid a nearby asteroid, but its spin instead threw it face-first into the unyielding rock.

"Oh, that had to hurt!" Kathhound called out.

The TIEs were returning Mystic's fire, and several of the green lasers ended with blue flashes as they clipped Mystic's and Trapper's shields. As Trapper rocked slightly from the grazing impacts, he called aloud to Mystic, "Break, now!"

Mystic's X-Wing suddenly pulled high and left as Trapper's Y-Wing slowly rolled downward. The TIEs ignored the more maneuverable X-Wing as it pulled away to concentrate their fire on the slower moving Y-wing that approached them. Twofer's turret spat red lasers at the TIE, succeeding in knocking off their aim, but seemed unable to catch the nimble fighters.

Trapper's Y-Wing slowly rolled underneath the swooping TIEs, causing them to overshoot. Too late, the TIE pilots noticed the flashing cylindrical devices Trapper had released on his approach. As the two TIEs attempted to split and pull away, the bombs detonated. The TIEs shook as part of the wing of one TIE was sheered off; the other was thrown off course as electrical arcs coursed over the remaining TIE's cockpit.

Kathhound was about to draw the TIE into his sights when his attention was caught by a metallic glitter off to his port side. "Guys," he called out as Mystic finished off the last sparking and wounded TIE fighter, "We've got an interceptor inbound!"

"What? Where?" Mystic called out as he passed the billowing fireball that had been the last remaining TIE fighter, his own ship dodging and weaving as he attempted to catch sight of the mentioned interceptor.

"I've got nothing on my scopes," Trapper called back as he brought his Y-Wing about, back towards Kathhound's position.

"Must be stealthed," Tugboat mused from his trailing position. "I've got him on visual, but he isn't showing on my scopes. He's too far out to shoot."

"And he just …exploded," Kathhound observed from his cockpit as he watched a billowing cloud of flame erupt from a distant asteroid. "What happened?"

"I think he was hugging the asteroids to close," Tugboat replied. "Must have been trying to mask his approach by skirting one asteroid to the next – and miscalculated."

"Rookie," Kathhound sneered, as he slowed his ship. "Well," he remarked as the four ships slowly regrouped. "That's all of them. I got three – how many did you guys get?"

"Hey, I hate to break up the celebration," Mystic called out, "But we're not done yet." He nosed his X-wing to the far edge of the asteroid cluster and stated, "Looks like we've drawn another patrol."

"Tugboat, cut the jammers," Trapper ordered as he followed Mystic's turn. "We don't need to attract any more attention."

"Gotcha," Tugboat called out as he followed his companions. Already, Kathhound was pouring on the throttle again, racing to catch up to Mystic.

"Let's blast them," Kathhound called out, as both Mystic's X-Wing and his own ship opened fire on the screaming TIE's approach. Their shots exploded one of the approaching TIEs but the other two raced past, one of them raking Mystic's shields as it zoomed by.

"My shields are down," Mystic called out as he broke away from the TIE's raking lasers.

"I think we made them mad," Kathhound replied as he broke in the opposite direction.

The two TIEs hurled past the X-Wings, bearing down on the trailing Y-wings. Twofer's turret on Trapper's Y-wing opened fire, but the gunfire failed to squarely connect with the tiny craft.

As the TIEs zoomed closer with lasers blazing, Tugboat's Y-Wing suddenly unloaded. The affixed turret and nose lasers from the ship quickly found their mark, detonating one of the approaching TIEs in a shower of flame. The second TIE attempted to pull off as twofer's unrelenting fire followed the TIE, but its dodging arc brought it right up into Tugboat's turn. A withering hail of fire lanced out from Tugboat's hazard-striped Y-Wing, catching the TIE along its wing. The TIE collapsed in on itself and impacted on a nearby asteroid, shatter both the imperial ship and the small asteroid.

"Nice shot," Kathhound observed.

"Alright boys," Trapper chastised as he pulled his Y-Wing about and the other Rebel ships fell into formation, "I think that does it for now. We don't need to stick around anymore waiting for the _Songbird_ ," he shook his head, "She's three hours overdue."

"We can't just abandon her," Kathhound frowned.

"We're no good to her if we get captured or blown up by an imperial patrol," Mystic countered, which drew a derisive snort from Kathhound.

"Mystic's right," Tugboat observed. "We should return to the _Bright Wind_ to see if they've made contact with HQ. They may have had to alter their plans for some reason."

"Bear," Trapper called to his R2-B3 unit, "punch us up a Hyperspace route back to the _Bright Wind_ ," he ordered. Behind him, B3 whistled his acknowledgement and began the calculations.

As soon as the squadron cleared the field of undulating rocks, Trapper smiled. Although they hadn't met up with the Rebel scouting ship, the _Songbird_ , they'd made it through their first mission together alive. That was a good sign.

"Pathfinders," Trapper announced as he reached to engage his hyperdrive, "Welcome to Aturi Cluster." Moments later, the four ships vanished in long streaks into the hyperspace they had arrived from, returning towards the distant _Bright Wind_ cruiser.


	2. Chapter 2

TWO – Fate of a _Songbird_

"I think I scratched the paint," frowned Kathhound, as he walked around his ship aboard the _Bright Wind's_ hangar.

Staring at the fresh laser burns on his own ship, Mystic didn't reply. Instead, he continued filling out the maintenance sheet that the head mechanic had handed him. The last fight had burned out his shield generator

"Well, we made it back in one piece," Trapper stated from beside his own Y-Wing. Twofer, his wookie gunner, was just climbing out from the Y-wing's back seat, but he nodded sagely at Trapper's words.

Twofer growled softly at Trapper, indicating his next action. "Yeah," Trapper nodded, "see if you can get us some more bombs – and maybe an ion torpedo or two," he added, as the tall wookie moved off

Tugboat was still squirming to get out of his cockpit. He tossed his helmet aside with a grunt as he asked, "We got time to stop by the mess for something to eat?" He asked as he started to waddle toward the ladder down to the deck. "I haven't had anything in like, four hours."

"Lunch isn't a bad idea," Trapper noted as he checked his chronometer, "You guys go ahead, I'll check with the deck officer to see if they've got any word from the _Songbird._ "

The remaining three pilots gave Trapper the thumbs up before heading off to find the ship's galley. Once they left, Trapper erased his smile and headed over to the nearby deck officer.

"Corrus," he stated, calling out to his cousin, "Any word from the _Songbird?_ "

Corrus shook his head. "Unfortunately, yes," he stated, handing a datapad from under his arm to the stout pilot. "Their hyperdrive took a hit on their way out. As of their last transmission about an hour ago, they dropped out in a debris field near Pyrrus for repairs."

Trapper examined the datasheet. He was familiar with Pyrrus, an industrial port that shipped raw ores across the cluster. The debris field was well-known – it was a sort of scrapyard where damaged ships were abandoned when they were no longer useful for service. If the _Songbird_ could avoid the local salvage crews, it was an excellent place to find replacement parts and hide from imperial scrutiny.

"There's been no report from them since they went in?" Trapper asked.

"No contact," Corrus replied curtly. "Not even a repair estimate. And you know the _Bright Wind_ has been ordered not to make first contact."

Trapper nodded, the procedure kept the _Bright Wind_ from being easily tracked by imperial listening posts scattered throughout the sector. "Let me get the boys and go after them. If they haven't contacted us back by now, they've likely got their hands full."

"How soon are you planning to leave?" Corrus asked as he waved over the head technician. "You've just got back and we haven't had time to start repairs on your ship."

"The only ship that'll be trouble is Mystic's – he lost his shield generator."

"That's four hours work," Corrus informed Trapper. "If we put your ships to the front of the line."

"That's too long," Trapper thought aloud. "You got a spare we can pull?"

Corrus gave an apprehensive snort,"He's the only one who has one of those T-65Rs, you know, and you know how touchy he is about it."

Trapper shook his head, "He'll have to deal with it. We need to get to the _Songbird_ as soon as we can."

"Give me at least twenty minutes to get your ships refueled and rearmed," Corrus finally acquiesced.

"Go ahead and get started," Trapper patted Corrus on the shoulder. "I'm going to go talk to the Ol' man to get mission clearance. I'll see you back here shortly."

"That ought to give Tugboat enough time to at least put something in his belly," Trapper chortled as he headed down the hall towards the _Bright Wind's_ bridge.

BREAK

"Scanners are a negative," Tugboat called out as he studied the green telemetry screen to his side. "I'm not picking up the _Songbird's_ signal in the area."

"Damn," Trapper seethed from the cockpit of his Y-wing. "They're supposed to be here. If they left, protocol is they should have at least left a buoy."

"We could run a search pattern through the debris field," Kathhound called out from his nearby X-wing.

"It'd take weeks to find what we're looking for in these hulks," Mystic replied. "We need some kind of clue as to where they went if we want any hope of finding them."

Trapper paused in thought. The four ships hung just outside the massive junkyard at Pyrrus. Abandoned Corellian bulk freighters slowly spun in place, most of them long ago stripped of their vital parts. Occasionally, bright flickers of light would illuminate one of the battered hulks, displaying the work of scavenging crews salvaging bits from new hulks that had been dragged into the field. A small tug would occasionally flit into view, carrying the scavenged parts to weapon-laden processing ships waiting at the edge of the fields.

Trapper knew that flying into the field with starfighters, and randomly scanning the hulks would draw the ire of the semi-legal scavenging crews already working the fields. It would likely as well incur warning shots from the larger ships at the edge of the field – if they bothered to fire warning shots at all.

Finally, Trapper made his decision. "Tugboat," he called, "ping us."

"Boss, is that a wise idea?" Mystic asked, "If there's any imperial listening stations nearby, they might be watching for our relay codes to be transmitted."

"We'll have to risk it," Trapper replied, "We can't go searching the field without drawing scavenger ire, and we're far enough out to hyperspace out if the Impies detect us."

"Yes, sir," Tugboat responded, sending the coded, all-band transmission. "Let's hope they're close enough to hear us."

Once the transmission was sent, it only took a few seconds before the scrapyard lit up with activity.

"Pathfinders, this is _Songbird,_ " a voice suddenly rang back to Tugboat. "We've detected your transmission and are en route."

"I got 'em," Tugboat informed the team.

"Be advised," the _Songbird_ continued, "Imperial ships have been scanning for us, expect incoming hostile recovery craft."

"Ah, shi-," Tugboat sighed, "Boss," Tugboat barked back to Trapper. "Imperial's have been waiting for us to show up."

"Okay," Trapper replied, throttling up his ship, as Mystic and Kathhound engaged their S-foils as well. "Patch their ship in through the main comm, we're escorting them out of there."

"I just detected launches from two Gozanti cruisers on opposite sides of the scrapyard," Mystic noted, "three eyeballs apiece." As the group turned from cruising along the field's edge to throttling up and turning into the field.

"What about the big cruisers?" Kathhound asked. "All it would take is one ion shot from a Gozanti to knock the _Songbird_ out."

"Let's hope those Gozanti are stupid enough to open up on the field," Trapper smiled, glancing to the huge processing ships in the distance. "They'd be atomized before they got off their second barrage, Imperial or not."

"So, we just got to worry about the TIEs," Kathhound smiled back, "Wizard."

" _Songbird_ to Pathfinders," a voice crackled over the comm. "Where are you? The Impies knocked out our main sensor array, we're flying blind in here."

" _Songbird_ ," Tugboat advised, "This is Pathfinder Two," he called out as the incoming ships started to weave through the mass of hulks. "I've got you on my scanners. Come about to seventy-five-mark-one, I'll escort you out of the field."

"Nobody shoot any of the salvage squad ships," Trapper warned as a slow-moving tug passed above them, forcing Kathhound to dive out of its path. "We don't need the whole scrapyard firing back at us."

"Boss, this is going to be some tight maneuvering," Mystic warned as he led the pack now. "Could've used my vectored thrusters in here."

"Save it," Trapper called back, "We won't be here for long."

"Tugboat, Kathhound," Trapper ordered, "Break to port and take the TIEs on that side. Mystic and I will deal with the fighters to starboard."

"Hey, if the TIEs on your side cross to port, does that mean I get to shoot them?" Kathhound joked.

Before Trapper could respond, the first lances of green laser fire from the incoming TIE fighters lit up the field, and was followed by several large fireballs and showers and scrap material. The shots were too far out to be a danger to the rebel ships – it was clear they were firing on the _Songbird_.

" _Songbird_ , report – are you hit?" Trapper called out.

"We managed to dive through a hulk and avoid them," came the response from the _Songbird_.

"Just hang on for a few more seconds," Tugboat called out, "I'm almost to you."

Just ahead of Tugboat's Y-wing was the skeletal hulk of a cargo ship, split into three pieces. Tugboat directed his ship downwards to the underside of the wreck as Kathhound's glossy X-Wing disappeared over the top. As Tugboat expected, the dark grey form of the _Songbird_ 's HWK-290 chassis came speeding under the hulk from ahead, a shower of sparks from where its exterior antennae had extended, illuminating its stealthy form.

As the ship neared, Tugboat pulled his Y-wing hard, taking the lead to escort it out of the field. Above and behind him, he could see the red flash of Kathhound's lasers from between the sections of the abandoned hulk.

"Starboard TIEs intercepted," Mystic called from beyond a wrecked hulk to what was now Tugboat's left. Green and red lasers were exchanged as the two groups shot past one another. Tugboat caught the sight of one flame-enveloped TIE slam into a the hulk that obscured the combat. Debris from the TIE and the impacted hulk harmlessly flew in all directions. A nearby scavenger's shuttle raced away from the combat.

As the _Songbird_ followed Tugboat's Y-wing back towards the exit to the scrapyard, a brilliant light flared far to the two ship's left.

"What was that?" the voice from the _Songbird_ called out.

"That'd be our flight leader dropping a proton bomb," Tugboat called out. He smiled as he watched secondary explosions blossom from the primary blast. "Hope that got them." Tugboat shook his head. With all the debris and explosions, his own sensors were almost worthless – he could only guide the _Songbird_ out by backtracking the waypoint he'd locked into his targeting computer before entering the field.

"Anyone got eyes on those two port TIEs?" Kathhound called out from his X-wing. "I had to loop around an old freighter and I've lost visual."

"I've got them," Mystic called out, "They bounced right into my sights." The laser array on his X-wing opened up on the two TIEs, who had taken to following a massive hulk to try and relocate the _Songbird._

One TIE exploded from Mystic's burst, and the other peeled hard down alongside a nearby hulk. Mystic continued his dive towards the ship when suddenly a TIE interceptor shot out from underneath the nearby hulk.

"Where in the blazes did that come from?" Mystic exclaimed as it spat green laser at him. Laser seared Mystic's wing as the interceptor shot past, its guns still roaring as it now lanced shots over Trapper's obliquely following Y-wing.

Trapper grimaced as the shots rocked his ship, but they did not penetrate the shields. The interceptor shot past Trapper as well, looping about as it neared a nearby slowly spinning hulk.

"He's coming around," Trapper warned as he struggled to bring his Y-wing about. Already Twofer was spitting fire from the turret at the interceptor, but the nimble ship simple evaded the incoming fire.

"I'm having trouble getting turned around," Mystic warned Trapper as he fought to find a clear path through the debris field. He had wildly veered off at the appearance of the interceptor and was struggling to find his way back to Trapper.

"We're almost clear of the field," Tugboat called from his Y-wing as the _Songbird_ sped towards him. As green laser fire started to spiral towards them from the remaining TIEs in the field, Tugboat throttled back on his ship, letting the _Songbird_ pull ahead. "C'mon," he urged, "We're almost there…"

"Guys, I can't hold this interceptor off by myself," Trapper warned as the interceptor had turned to close on the lone Y-wing. "Once he splashes me, he's coming for the _Songbird._ "

It was then that Kathhound's X-Wing shot upward over the dead hulk behind the interceptor and dropped over, neatly moving onto the TIE's tail. Before the interceptor could lock its stream of laser fire onto Trapper's Y-wing, Kathhound's gatling laser fire punched the interceptor through from engine to cockpit. It exploded in a furious ball of flame, the green lasers momentarily flashing in every direction as the interceptor's wings were hurled spinning from the cockpit's fireball.

"Nice shot," breathed Trapper, whose gaze had been locked on the approaching interceptor.

"No problem Boss," Kathhound replied, "What say we go help Tugboat with those remaining TIEs," he laughed.

"We've got more problems," Mystic called out. "I just picked up on the Impies chatter. Two more Gozanti have dropped out of hyperspace behind us. They're deploying more TIE fighters."

"Well, we lucked out on that," Trapper replied, noting the TIEs would be at the far end of the field, opposite the fleeing _Songbird_. "Tug – how you holding up?"

" _Songbird_ 's clear of the field," Tugboat responded. "I'm turning to dissuade pursuit." There was sounds of an explosion over the comm, followed by, "Hu-ah, that got their attention. Last one's turning tail. Pursuing."

"Negative," Trapper called out. "Keep on the _Songbird_ until she jumps. Pathfinders, it's time to leave."

"Ah man," Kathhound called out, having just turned his X-wing to engage the TIEs approaching from the rear of the field,"I was just getting warmed up."

"That is a negative," Trapper repeated. "Spin up your hyperdrives and clear the field. We've done our job."

" _Songbird_ is away," Tugboat called out. "I'm following suit."

"I'm clearing the field," Mystic called out a moment later, "Heading out."

Trapper aimed his ship for the edge of the scrapyard and started the process to head to hyperspace, when Twofer gave a warning roar. Trapper turned at the wookie's call, calling out, "What do you mean Kath isn't following?"

Trapper scowled as spoke into the comm. "Kathhound, we're leaving now. Don't try to take them on by yourself. There's too many of them."

In Kathhound's cockpit, the pilot gritted his teeth. Eight TIEs overall, were pressing down on him. They weren't in range yet, but they were heading straight for him. He'd hoped he could use the field to hide in, but it was obvious they had detected him.

"Kath, get out of there," Trapper warned once more, before his own Y-wing vanished into hyperspace.

"Yeah, I think you may be right, Trapper," Kathhound reconsidered as the first of the TIE's massed lasers streaked towards him, exploding debris off the nearby hulks.

"R2, get us out of here," Kathhound announced as he pulled the ship upwards, attempting to exit out of the top of the scrapyard.

There was a squelch from the R2 unit as the X-wing was rocked. Kathhound heard something behind him explode.

"R2, we've been hit," he exclaimed as a dozen alarms sounded off on his console. It took a moment for him to realize that R2 wasn't going to respond as even more green streaks attempted to zero on his flaming vehicle.

"Eject," the ship's computer voice alerted. As Kathhound fought with the controls, trying to evade the incoming fire and complete the jump calculations, the computer voice attempted to repeat itself, but died mid-word.

"Oh, this isn't good," Kathhound muttered as his ship rocketed upwards and away from the scrapyard. A moment later, the X-wing exploded in an orange fireball as it was pierced by the incoming green laser fire of over a half-dozen TIEs.


	3. Chapter 3

THREE – The Moff

"How are you feeling?" Trapper asked from the doorway.

Kathhound, who had been reading a datapad, looked up to smile and give Trapper the thumbs up. "Doc's cleared me for duty, now that my leg's healed." He explained as he nodded to the azure 2-1B medical droid beside him.

Trapper entered the room, waving Mystic and Tugboat to accompany him in.

"Looks like you lost a bit of weight," Trapper noted.

"Yeah, well Bacta's pretty scarce, so I had to sorta heal the old-fashioned way – with some droid help," Kathhound then scowled. "How long have I been out?"

"Two weeks," Trapper replied as he took the seat beside Kathhound's bed.

"Wow," Kathhound stated, taken aback. He knotted his eyebrows as he thought. "I remember managing to eject just before my X-wing blew," he frowned at the loss of the ship. "But how'd I get back here? You all jumped away."

"You can thank the local scavangers for bringing you back," Trapper stated. "One of the teams went to scavenge what was left of your X-wing and found you. You're lucky the Impies didn't hang around to scan the wreck," Trapper added after a pause, "The scavenger team that found you posted a bounty for your retrieval. We were a little short on funds," Trapper indicated the other Pathfinders, "So the _Songbird_ 's crew pitched in to get you back. They figured they owed us."

"Well that was nice of them," Kathhound mused. "So," he asked, cocking his head, "I miss anything interesting while I was out?"

"Not really," Trapper smiled, "Tugboat made Ace, but we've just been pulling patrols of late."

"Ace?" Kathhound asked, "He managed to get five kills in that bucket?"

"Hey," Tugboat countered with a wry smile, "I'm just as surprised as you."

"Well," Trapper stated, slapping his leg, "Now that you're back, we do have a mission waiting for us."

Kathhound sat up. "What'd we pull?"

"I hope not more patrols," Mystic breathed, "My bum is sore from flying in big circles for hours around the _Bright Wind_."

"No," Trapper countered. "This one's big. The installation the _Songbird_ was sent to monitor is getting a visitor. A moff, no less."

"Moff Lankin?" Kathhound breathed.

"You know him?" Trapper asked.

"Yeah," Kathhound breathed. "He was the one who enslaved my family back on Kahtol. I joined the rebellion because I swore I'd free them and make him pay for what he did."

"Well," Mystic spoke, "Here's your chance to at least give him a piece of your mind."

"When do we leave?" Kathhound seethed.

Trapper eyed Kathhound carefully. "As soon as you can fill out a flight suit, we're set to go." As Kathhound nodded, Trapper added, "We'll go over the plan as you get dressed." He cautioned, "And this time, you do as I say." To which, Kathhound obediently, but sullenly nodded.

BREAK

Kathhound's knuckles were white on his control stick as he watched the Lambda shuttle _Osiron_ sweep through the cluster of asteroids. Flanked on each side and ahead of the bone-white shuttle flew TIE fighters, guarding the Moff's ship. Despite the burning rage that swelled inside him, he contained himself, waiting to pounce on Trapper's command.

"Now," Trapper's voice shouted over the comm and into Kathhound's mind. The four ships powered to life as the shuttle nosed past them. In seconds, both X-wings roared at the convoy, their wings locked open and spitting red death at the escorting TIE fighters. The two flanking TIEs exploded before they could react as the leading TIE and Lambda began to peel away, only to find themselves driving towards the incoming Y-wings. Twofer's turret raked the huge sail fin of the _Osiron,_ whose surface splashed blue as the shields absorbed the shot. Tugboat came about the other side of the shuttle, its forward guns and locked turret made quick work of the last defending TIE.

"She's screaming for reinforcements," Mystic warned as the two X-wings swung about, evading the shuttle's deadly lasers.

"Activating jammers," Tugboat called out as he slowly swung his Y-wing about on the tail of the shuttle.

As the four ships maneuvered to descend upon the _Osiron_ , a streak of white light, like a flash of lightning, lit up the nearby starfield. From the white-hot depths, a solid black TIE fighter emerged, its nose already pointed to streak towards the surrounded Lamba shuttle. It was neither a regular fighter nor an interceptor, but instead its bent wings and elongated hull clearly marked it as an advanced TIE fighter.

"Rebel scum," a deep, grating voice called over an open frequency. "This is the Viscount Stryker of the Imperial Navy. You are ordered to power down and surrender - immediately."

"I've got him," barked Kathhound, turning towards the bent-wing TIE fighter.

"Don't take him alone," Trapper warned, whose Y-wing had shot past the shuttle, also came about in a wide arc that would bring him past the TIE advanced. "Mystic, Tugboat – see if you can put the brakes on that shuttle while we deal with this Viscount."

"Affirmative," Tugboat responded as his guns unloaded into the back of the shuttle. Declining shields on the ship splashed blue and then flashed white as the affixed guns on Tugboat's Y-wing finally overcame their protection.

"You sure you don't want me on the black one?" Mystic called out as he tried to disable the engine of the undulating shuttle. However, he was finding getting a target lock even on the ship's slowly undulating form difficult, and his lasers skipped harmlessly past the nose of the ship.

"Just watch for other reinforcements," Trapper warned as Twofer unloaded the turret at the evading TIE advanced. Both Trapper and Twofer gave an elated exclamation when the turret scored a direct hit, which turned to a groan as blue shield waves absorbed the shot.

The advanced TIE returned fire, its green lasers finding the Y-Wing's deflector generator and overloading it with a loud pop as it zoomed past the slow-moving ship. Trapper fought the controls to keep the Y-Wing from spinning out of control from the hit.

"Boss, you okay?" Mystic called as he started to peel away from the shuttle.

"Stay on the shuttle," Trapper ordered as he worked the Y-wing back around. The TIE advanced was circling as well, but in a much tighter turn, racing towards the Y-wing's undefended side. The Viscount was so focused on the wounded Y-Wing he never noticed Kathhound slide his X-Wing in on the TIE advance's tail.

Mystic looked back to the shuttle just in time to see the _Osiron_ reverse its thrusters and he overshot it. Tugboat, who had been following the shuttle was forced to pull up to avoid hitting the rear of the huge vessel.

Meanwhile, Kathhound's lasers scored a barrage of hits on the back of the TIE advanced, catching the ship in the linked shield generator and hyperdrive. Fire poured out the wounded ship as it went into a sudden spin, still hurling towards the wounded Y-wing in a screaming, fiery death.

Kathhound continued to pour shots into the out-of-control TIE advanced as Trapper jerked his ship away from the fiery, spinning ship. Only meters from Trapper's tail, the TIE advanced exploded, sending shrapnel in all directions.

"That was too close," Trapper called from his cockpit.

"I read more eyeballs incoming," Mystic suddenly called out, as he had been attempting to bring his shuttle about to bear down on the shuttle. Tugboat was struggling to keep up with the shuttle, who had now slammed into full gear to speed away from the pursuing Y-wing. Everyone was out of position to stop the shuttle now.

"Can't be a local patrol," Trapper stated as he slowly limped his ship about, "We're out in the middle of nowhere."

"Nearby Gozanti?" Mystic asked.

"Let's hope not," Trapper noted, analyzing the situation. Tugboat was now trailing the shuttle at far range and the rest of the group wasn't in a position to catch the shuttle before it would be far enough away to flee to hyperspace.

"Tugboat, it's up to you to stop that shuttle," Trapper commanded, "Kathhound, Mystic – let's see if we can take these fighters out."

"But the Moff might get away," Kathhound cried aloud, glancing at his sensors.

"Kath," Trapper stated grimly, "Let Tugboat handle the Moff. I need you on these fighters."

Kathhound gritted his teeth, but after a moment shoved his throttle forward as he arced towards the approaching TIEs. "Understood," he scowled as the three raced at the approaching ships.

Behind them, Tugboat lagged as he raced after the fleeing _Osiron_. He wasn't gaining and he could see the ship beginning to power up its hyperdrive. The brief pause as the main engines started to shift was exactly what Tugboat needed. He flipped the cap atop his control stick and jabbed the red button underneath.

Twin torpedoes lanced away from the Y-wing as he continue to fire lasers at the distance shuttle. The lasers found their mark first, striking just above the engine plate and causing the whole engine to flicker at the momentarily loss of power. The shuttle lurched forward, but the torpedoes honed in on the shuttle's hyperdrive, exterminating it in a flash of brilliant white and red light.

The crippled shuttle suddenly leaned forward, as if it had toppled off a chair and face-first into the floor.

"I got it," Tugboat yelled, throwing his arms up.

To his side, the three rebel ships engaged the approaching TIEs. Mystic and Kathhound spit red-hot laser fire at the approaching TIEs, when Trapper suddenly pulled downward. The two X-wings likewise split aside and the approaching TIEs, already sparking from the advancing enemy's fire, ran headlong into Trapper's just-laid cluster mines.

The central TIE exploded as it contacted the mines, its wings shooting out to strike the adjacent TIEs. It sent one TIE spinning into a nearby asteroid while the other TIE was simply crushed by the impact and exploded as well.

As Trapper let out a relieved sigh as he brought his ship about in a long roll, he picked up from Kathhound's X-wing. "Now we've got him."

"Good job," Trapper called aloud. "Let's call up the retrieval ship and get the Moff out of here before reinforcements arrive."


	4. Chapter 4

FOUR – The Sensor Net

Kathhound slammed his fists on the plain metal table, "Where is my family?" He roared at the becalmed Moff sitting across from him.

"You'll have to be more specific," Moff Larkin stated coolly. "I've had several rebel sympathizers rounded up over the last few months. It's difficult to remember all their names."

Trapper gave a nod as Kathhound reared a fist, and both Tugboat and Mystic took Kathhound by the arms and pulled him back from the table. "Don't say a word Kath," he warned. "You know he's just trying to get your real name."

The Moff gave Trapper a slight nod and a sneering smile. "So tell me, pilot – why am I really here? Am I to be ransomed? Tortured and questioned? Perhaps," he asked, glancing at the still enraged Kathhound, "Be made an example of?"

The door to the small room slid open and a well-dressed, though scruffy-bearded officer stepped in, holding a datapad under his helmet. "I can answer that for you, Moff Larkin."

"Ah," the one-eyed Moff stated, "Well, if it isn't former lieutenant Blackstone. I would have never guessed to have found you among this scum," he sneered.

"I would not have been," the _Bright Wind_ 's commander stated, stepping forward and sliding the data pad over to Moff Larkin, "If my family hadn't been arrested on trumped-up charges so the Empire could steal the family farm."

Moff Larkin scowled at both Commander Blackstone and the datapad before he hissed , "They were impeding the progress of the Empire," he sighed coldly, "We needed the land for additional barracks and training faciliTIEs. Your family was offered fair compensation for that land and refused," Moff Larkin explained. When Commander Blackstone's stern expression did not waver, the Moff leaned forward and spoke in a conspiratorial voice, "There still could be a chance for you to return to your post, _lieutenant_ Blackstone. Return me and show your loyalty to the Empire once again – and perhaps we will be able to forget this insubordinate behavior. And that of these … pilots."

"No," Blackstone stated simply, leaning forward on the desk. Behind him, the four Pathfinders likewise set their jaw at the Commander's reply. "Instead, you're going to reveal the location of the labor camp where you've sent mine and Kathhound's family," He growled, nudging the datapad once more towards the Moff.

The Moff took a moment to glance at the datapad, as if considering the demand. He then straightened. "I would need access to a Holo-receiver to get those co-ordinates." He stated menacingly, "There's so many of them, it's hard to keep track of them all."

Tugboat spoke up before Kathhound could, "Sir, you're not seriously going to give him access to a Holonet terminal are you? You know he'll just use it to give away our – and his position."

"I know better," Blackstone countered, his eyes not wavering from locking with the Moff's hateful gaze. Both men stared long and hard at each other, before Blackstone drew himself back up. "Tell you what, Larkin. You think about it for a while." After a pause he added, "In the meantime, we've received word your building a refueling base over in the Argus system." He thumbed to Trapper, "I think we'll take it. Consider it," Blackstone mused aloud, "As compensation for the farm you took from my family."

As Blackstone motioned for the others to back out and leave the room, Moff Larkin rose, his face livid. "You'll never take that base," he snarled, "You won't get within a hundred klicks before the base's forces blow you out of the sky."

Just before the door slammed shut, Kathhound leaned in to counter, "Just watch us."

BREAK

"Pathfinder one to group," Trapper called out as the four ships bounced out of hyperspace and into realspace, "Split into groups Alpha and Beta, as we planned," he stated. At the words, Trapper's Y-Wing and Kathhound's X-Wing rolled left as Tugboat's Y-wing and Mystic's X-wing pulled right.

"We'll be in detection range of the sensor net protecting the base in just a few seconds," Trapper reminded the group. "We need to eliminate them from long range before they can alert the base to our presence," Trapper continued.

"Did you get the head mechanic, Thaniel, to tune our laser convergence for long range shooting?" Mystic asked.

"Sure did," Tugboat replied, "Honed to a razor's edge at 1,500 MGM – that far enough for ya?"

"Can the targeting computer see that far?" Kathhound asked.

"Nope," Mystic replied. "You'll have to eyeball it."

"Eyeball it?" Kathhound moaned, "I can't even pick it out at that distance."

"Cut the chatter," Trapper interrupted. "Just start laying into them as soon as you can."

Already, Mystic's guns started blazing as he and Tugboat closed in on the nearest sensor transmission beam. He was rewarded by a resounding explosion as the damaged sensor exploded.

"They're on magnesium asteroids," Mystic noted. "Improves their reception, but they're a bit unstable." He finally added, "Wouldn't advise running into them."

"Careful, Mystic," Tugboat stated as his turret locked onto another signal and unleashed a battery of fire into it. "You're wandering into their detection range."

"Hey, I'm picking up a couple TIE patrols out here," Kathhound noted, as he noted Trapper unload on one of the sensors and eliminate it, "Did they already pick us up?"

"Probably a regular sweep, patrolling the area," Tugboat noted as Mystic picked off the next sensor in the array.

"Don't get tangled up with them," Trapper warned, as Kathhound killed his first satellite, "Stay on-mission."

"We're going to get swamped out here," Kathhound countered.

"Don't worry," Trapper replied, as he watched his scopes for the approaching squad of TIE fighters, "We've got a few surprises for them." From the turret beside him, Twofer was working on the next satellite as the TIEs came into visual range.

"Here they come," Mystic called out from the other side of the field.

"I see them," Trapper intoned as he flipped open the cap atop his control stick.. From underneath the worn Y-wing, a single torpedo sped out and toward the enemy. As the approaching TIEs zoomed closer, lasers blazing. Trapper and Kathhound used the asteroids to shield themselves from the incoming fire.

As the TIEs turned to swing back onto the rebel's tail, Trapper's ion torpedo caught detonated in their midsts. The TIEs were thrown off-course from the shockwave, which also detonated several of the nearby magnesium asteroids, obscuring Kathhound's X-wing and Trapper's Y-Wing from the enemy's view.

On the other side of the field, Mystic zoomed past an approaching TIE, ignoring it with a spinning maneuver as his own lasers lanced outward to destroy another sensor. The TIE shot past Mystic, missing him, only to face Tugboat's Y-wing rising over a sensor-laden asteroid ahead of the unfortunate pilot.

The flustered TIE pilot panicked, attempting to avoid Tugboat's fast-approaching Y-wing and it mistakenly dived, crashing into the nearby asteroid.

The explosion destroyed the TIE fighter and the sensor, but it also rocked Tugboat's Y-wing, overloading the ship's shields from the detonation. At the moment of the asteroid's detonation, a loud ping echoed through the Pathfinder's com system.

"What was that?" Kathhound grimaced.

"The sensor net just detected us," Trapper replied. "Pathfinders, we've got one sensor left. Let's take it out and get out of here before –"

"TIE interceptors, incoming," Mystic warned. "A pack of three. They must be responding to the alert," he added. "Boy, they didn't waste any time."

"Great," Trapper bellowed, "Not what we needed." He stated as the sparkling debris behind his own ship cleared, revealing two fast-approaching and angry TIE fighters.

Kathhound called out, "I can take those TIEs."

"Negative," Trapper countered, "Help Mystic get that last sensor. Me and Tugboat will draw off the interceptors. But get your Hyperdrives spun up – as soon as we blow the last sensor, we need to be out of here."

"Give me a moment," Tugboat called out as he armed the yellow bomb switch in his own cockpit, "I'm having a little trouble over here," he glanced backward through the smoke trail issuing from his ship at the remaining two TIE fighters that were following him. "C'mon, just a little closer," he urged as the light of green lasers began to arc past his cockpit.

"I'm on the satellite," Mystic called out as he spun his X-Wing over the incoming interceptors. The interceptors broke formation to roll back around

"I've got it in my sights as well," Kathhound called out from the opposite side as he zoomed in on the last sensor.

"Well, blow it already," Trapper called out as Twofer laid into the TIEs advancing from behind him. The TIEs returned fire, but Trapper lurched the Y-wing from asteroid to asteroid, throwing off their shots – but likewise foiling Twofer's shots as well.

Tugboat's Y-wing shot past the interceptors as they turned to tail Mystic. From the hazard-striped, smoking Y-wing an ovoid tumbled out, floating into the path of the lead interceptor. The trio broke, just in time as the bomb detonated with a thunderclap. It did not destroy the three ships, but did obscure Mystic from the interceptor's sight.

Laser fire from Kathhound and Mystic danced over the last sensor's asteroid, and with a bright flash, the whole rock exploded. The two X-Wings shot past one another in a victory roll.

"We got it," Kathhound happily announced.

"That's nice," Trapper applauded, "Now get the hell out of here."

Kathhound's R2 chirped that it had already calculated the jump and spun up the Hyperdrive, and Kath wasted no time activating it, disappearing in a red flash of light. Moments later, Mystic followed.

Trapper veered away from the regrouping interceptors and TIEs on his tail and pointed his own Y-wing at the edge of the field. "later Sleemo," he saluted the withering TIE fire growing around him. In a yellow flash, his ship disappeared from the field.

"I'm not hanging around either," Tugboat chimed as all the remaining TIE fighters and interceptors swung in his direction. A moment later, his ship vanished as well into Hyperspace.


	5. Chapter 5

FIVE – Tread Softly

"The noose is tightening, no?" Moff Larkin mused, staring at his fingernails. He seemed more perturbed he had not had a chance to buff the trimmed nails more that he was concerned about the four pilots that stood around him.

"Listen, twig," Kathhound snarled, "Keep it up and I'll feed you to Tugboat here."

Commander Blackstone stretched out his arm to keep Kathhound from lurching at the Moff, but the Imperial paid the pilot no heed other than to slightly raise his eyebrow, as if wondering such an act was even feasible.

"Moff Larkin," Trapper stated, finally moving from where he had been leaning against the wall, "We've already taken care of the sensor net at Argus, and we know there was no refueling base there." He paused as the Moff slowly swung to glare at him, "What we want to know is why your friends are mining the nearby Nulan system instead of looking for you?"

"I'm sure I have no idea why," The Imperial scoffed, turning up his nose as he dared to look away.

"They don't want him back," Mystic observed. "And he hasn't a clue what they're doing in Nulan."

"I assure you," Moff Larkin shot back, "That my men are diligently searching for my location," He growled, "They will find me soon enough." His expression softened slightly, adding, "As for the Nulan system, we're well aware of the Rebel traffic passing through that sector – and your feeble attempts to arm the populace there."

Trapper nodded at Blackstone, "That clinches it," he breathed, "I told you we were being monitored."

"Right," Blackstone nodded as the Moff looked between the two.

"What?" the Moff slowly asked, his smug expression turning to puzzlement.

Blackstone motioned for the Moff to rise and he was escorted from the room without another word by Tugboat and Kathhound, the latter keeping his hand on the blaster at his side as the Moff was escorted out.

Once the Moff had departed, the door concealed on the far side of the interrogation room swung open and a blue-caped figure carefully swept into the room.

"Well?" the figure asked.

"Okay, Lando," Blackstone sighed. "I think that confirms your source. We'll reroute those Tibanna gas shipments to the Ison Corridor for now, but we can't let the imperials strangle civilian commerce to the Nulan system," Blackstone placed his hands on his waist and shook his head, "We need another favor."

Lando protectively raised his hands, "Hey, this isn't my fight," he protested, "We had a deal – I'm just supplying what you paid for. I don't do favors." He huffed as he glanced in the direction of the departed Moff, " Certainly not one that will draw Imperial attention."

"We can pay," Trapper urged, glancing to Blackstone, "We've got the salvage we acquired from the sensor net." He glanced to Lando, "We've finished examining it, there's a bunch of high-grade imperial quaility electronics among what we recovered."

Lando smiled, "In that case," he replied, "I think I have some extra ordinance we can trade for. It should be quite useful in clearing minefields," he added, "And anything else that may get in your way."

BREAK

"Drop in 3," Trapper warned the others, as he flicked the controls on his Hyperdrive, "2, 1 – Now."

The four ships dropped from hyperspace as one, to the sound of proximity alarms. Tugboat was the first to respond, swerving his Y-wing hard to avoid the white, blinking triangular mines that lay in front of them. Trapper cut his throttle hard to keep from running at the field they quickly approached.

"That's cutting it a little close," Kathhound called out from his X-Wing as he maneuvered to swing wide along the outskirt of the minefield.

"Well," Trapper shrugged uncomfortably, "Imagine what would have happened if a transport had happened along this way," he noted as Twofer powered up the turret behind him.

"The bombers are still here," Mystic alerted the others as his X-Wing followed Trapper's Y-wing through the maze of mines. "I'm also picking up a squadron of TIE's – probably here to deal with any ships the field cripples."

"Okay boys," Trapper noted, trying to throttle up his Y-wing to carefully enter the field, "Let's clear this mess before someone gets hurt." As if to emphasis the statement, Tugboat's Y-wing swung in a loop over Trapper's Y-wing, almost colliding with the ship in the cramped field.

"Kath, Mystic – focus on the bombers," Trapper ordered as Twofer began to open up with the turret, blasting nearby mines, causing small chains of explosions to rock the field. "Tugboat, spread out a bit and help me take out these mines."

Trapper and Tugboat swerved right through the field as Mystic slowly arced to the left to intercept the oncoming bombers. Trapper momentarily lost sight of Mystic as the incoming TIEs swept past his own ship, their shots shuddering over his shields. As he glanced back at the overshooting TIEs, he likewise saw Mystic sweep past the incoming TIE Bombers, the X-Wing's laser blasts seeming to do little to the tough hide of the massive bombers.

"Tugboat," Trapper called as Twofer's gun raked through nearby mines, "How are you holding up?"

"It's a bit tight in here, boss," Tugboat replied, "I'm just following the TIEs for now – clearing out behind them."

"Don't hang around them too long," Trapper called back as he swung his Y-Wing through the field. Suddenly, zooming ahead of him, Kathhound's X-Wing shot past the slowly banking Y-Wing. The X-Wing gracefully twirled amid the clusters of mines, rolling to come back in the direction it had appeared from.

"Where's Mystic?" Trapper asked as the X-Wing sped back past him.

"We're dealing with the bombers," Kathhound replied, moments before the lasers on his wingtips opened up again, clearing a section of mines in front of Trapper before the X-Wing sped off.

"Just taking a safe route," Mystic spoke up as Trapper caught sight of the other X-Wing slide between the roaring squadron of TIE fighters and the TIE bombers that reversed their course to pursue the X-Wings that had overshot them. As Mystic slipped through the swarm, his X-Wing's lasers caught one of the TIE bombers at the wing joint and the whole enemy ship came apart. The disjointed vehicle did not fly much further, spinning into a cluster of mines and detonating in a spectacular fashion, taking out the cluster of nearby mines.

"Whoa, where'd he come from?" Trapper heard Tugboat exclaim. "Boss – we've got another TIE Bomber screaming in from point two-seven five." There was a sharp crackle, then Tugboat exclaimed, "He means business – he's packing assault missiles."

Trapper arced his head to look for Tugboat and the incoming TIE bomber. When he saw the white stripe along the wing of the bomber bearing down on Tugboat, he barked at the Y-Wing. "Tugboat, throttle up and cut into him – force him to overshoot you." Tugboat hesitantly acknowledged, swerving his heavy Y-wing at the incoming TIE bomber. Trapper clenched his teeth as Tugboat's Y-wing clipped a mine in its turn. Smoke began to billow from the Y-Wing's left nacelle, but Trapper sighed in relief as a barrage of missiles left the TIE bomber too late to turn and lock on the passing Y-Wing. However, the ungainly bomber twisted harder than Trapper thought possible, turning to chase Tugboat's wounded Y-Wing.

"Kath, Mystic – that's a TIE bomber ace. Take him out before he gets on Tugboat's tail," He ordered, as Twofer brought the turret's gun around to rake the other remaining TIE bomber as it closed on him.

An alarm sounded on Trapper's main panel as the approaching TIE bomber raked fire over the crimson Y-wing in a pass, notifying Trapper the ship's shields had collapsed under the weight of incoming fire. "Bear," Trapper called out to the R2 unit as the TIE bomber roared overhead, "see if you can get the shield generator back online."

The droid beeped uncertainly as Trapper noted the bomber swinging about to bear down from the rear. As laser fire from the bomber swung in his direction again, Trapper hovered his thumb over the bomb button on his control stick.

"All right, tailgater," he smirked as the bomber screamed closer. "Chew on this." He depressed the button and continued to smile as his rear scope displayed three large canisters falling away from the rear of the Y-Wing into the TIE bomber's path.

However, his smile disappeared as the TIE bomber slid past the twirling canisters, its guns still blazing as it closed. "What the hell?" he murmured as the Y-wing rocked from a glancing strike. It was only Twofer's gunnery that made the TIE bomber swerve off. The wookie growled at Trapper.

"I know, I know," Trapper replied, "Those cluster bombs were a dud. They were supposed to arm as soon as they left the ship." The wookie gave a grunt, and Trapper shook his head, "No, I'm not going back to see if they're armed now," He glanced at his scope, and made a mental note they weren't even sending a sending a friendly warning beacon – they probably never had armed.

"Need a little help over here," Tugboat called out over a static-laden comm, drawing Trapper out of his funk. Trapper glanced over to the Y-Wing, fighting a losing battle attempting to outturn the TIE bomber ace downfield.

"I'm on it," Mystic called out as Trapper watched the nimble X-Wing bank around one of the few remaining clusters of mines. Again, Tugboat turned tight into the TIE bomber, shooting past it and towards Mystic before the lumbering bomber could bring its load of assault missiles to bear on the ungainly Y-Wing. As the TIE bomber twirled again to pursue the Y-Wing, Mystic caught it from behind. The X-Wing spiraled at the evading bomber, but it was too late for the more ungainly ship. The ace attempted to shake Mystic as he raked the TIE bomber with precise laser fire, catching it in the bomb pod.

"Kath," Trapper stated through clenched teeth after he watched the TIE bomber ace explode in white cloud of fire, "Stop chasing those TIEs and get that last bomber," he chided as he watched Kathhound fly past his left, barreling down on two fleeing TIEs.

"Yessir, sorry – got distracted," Kathhound apologized, reversing away from the fleeing ties and back towards the last remaining TIE bomber, as Mystic did likewise.

Trapper arced his own ship towards the last of the remaining mine clusters. "Hang on Twofer," he called to his gunner, "I'm going to toss the next set of clusters into that last field," he said. As Trapper brought the Y-Wing towards the field, he again depressed the trigger for the bombs. There was a strange clunking sound instead of the lightening release he had expected however. Lurching on the stick, he managed to pull the Y-Wing aside, narrowly missing the field itself. As he straightened, he fumed at a master alarm on his panel.

"Guys," Trapper advised as Mystic and Kathhound deleted the last TIE bomber from nearby, "The damn clusters didn't release from my ship." Behind him, Bear, the R2 unit bleeped another alarm, "And my shields are shot. I need help with the last of these mines."

"Boss, those TIEs are regrouping," Mystic advised, "They just sent out a signal – probably to whatever cruiser dropped them off here."

"Great," Trapper grimaced as he brought the Y-Wing about in a hard turn. As he swung about another alarm sounded – an audible proximity alarm from the cluster bombs himself. Trapper stopped the turn, realizing the turn was somehow upsetting the stuck bombs. He tried pressing the bomb release again, but the magnetics were firmly holding them to the hull.

"Bear," Trapper called out to his R2 unit, "see if you can unhook those bombs from us, or we're never going to be able to jump to hyperspace, much less turn around," To the others, he stated, "Guys, it's all you, looks like I'm out of this fight."

Mystic's X-Wing roared past Trapper. "I've got a seismic torpedo that'll clear the mines – give me a second to get in position."

In the distance, Trapper saw Kathhound's X-Wing deal with cloud of mines that Mystic had earlier circled to come about on the TIE bomber ace.

"Tugboat, where are you?" Trapper called, glancing about. He'd lost track of the Y-Wing after Mystic had cleared his tail.

"I'm drawing off the TIEs," Tugboat replied. Twofer called out the hazard-striped Y-Wing's position.

"Tug," Trapper warned, "That's too dangerous. We're almost done here – start making your calculations to jump -" However, the other Y-Wing was already amid the thick of the returning TIEs, slowly undulating like a star falcon harrassed by a flock of smaller jabbirds.

Trapper wasn't able to finish before a white, wedge-shaped object dropped out of hyperspace some distance from the minefield.

"That's an Imperial Light Cruiser," Kathhound exclaimed, turning his X-Wing about.

"Force help us," Trapper grimaced. His exclamation was punctuated by a wild bleep from his R2 unit, who indicated he'd disarmed the cluster bomb's magnetics. There was another clunk from the underside of the Y-Wing and the ship lurched forward slightly as the bombs fell away. "Great job, Bear," Trapper exhaled as he watched the disarmed bombs drift away.

"I've got the last minefield in sight," Mystic called out.

"Then let's blow it and get out of here," Trapper announced, spinning up his own hyperdrive engines.

Mystic's torpedo shot away from his X-Wing ; he did not remain to watch the torpedo strike its target, but instead nosed away and instantly disappeared into hyperspace. With an impressive bow shockwave, Mystic's torpedo cleared the last of the mines, sending a concussive wave reverberating through the remaining ship's hulls.

As the first lances of turbolaser fire from the approaching Light Cruiser lanced clumsily lanced toward's Kathhound's nimble X-Wing, the small ship vanished into hyperspace.

Free of the bombs, Trapper made one last call as Bear fed in the last of the jump co-ordinates, "Tugboat – get clear." A moment later, Trapper's Y-Wing vanished, more green turbolasers piercing the spot where the Y-Wing had been.

Tugboat continued his slow dance with the nimble TIE fighters. "Pitstop," he called back to the R5 unit behind him as he pulled up to find the Light Cruiser filling his forward viewscreen, "Stop screwing with the screens and get us out of here." The R5 unit protested, its manipulators dancing over the sparking shield generator just within reach.

A blue, ionic bolt lanced from the Cruiser, barely missing the evading Tugboat, but the blast caught a pursuing TIE dead on, spinning it out of control.

"I'm not giving you contradictory orders," Tugboat exclaimed at the droid's protest. "Get us out of here, you can fix the ship when we get back to the _Bright Wind_." More laser fire from the pursuing TIEs hissed close enough to the side-stepping Y-Wing that Tugboat felt like he could feel their heat.

Pitstop gave a discordant grumble, retracting its manipulators. As the Y-Wing closed on the Light Cruiser, coordinates began to spiral onto Tugboat's navcomputer. "That's it," Tugboat praised the droid as the ship drove above the hull of the Light Cruiser, turbolaser fire now adding to the green lasers arcing from the pursing TIEs.

Tugboat's Y-Wing rocked from the shots that exploded around him as the last coordinate locked in. As the Y-Wing shot past the tail end of the cruiser, Tugboat jabbed the engage button, and the Y-Wing finally vanished after the others, disappearing back into hyperspace.


	6. Chapter 6

SIX – Message Received

Furious, Trapper threw the dataslate to ground. Deck Officer Corrus sighed, waiting for Trapper to finish fuming before he bent down to retrieve the now-cracked electronic device.

"I should have known better than to trust that swindler," he balked, "The nerve of trading us Clone Wars era munitions for state-of-the-art Imperial tech. And droid muntions at that!"

Trapper turned to look at the twisted remains of Tugboat's Y-Wing. Though he'd escaped to hyperspace, as soon as he had dropped from hyperspace the left smoking nacelle had exploded. They'd been able to pull Tugboat free of the wreck – who'd amazingly been relatively uninjured – but it would be some time before the Y-Wing could even be repaired, and a day or two before Tugboat was in shape to fly again.

"If your quite through," Corrus commented, rising with the shattered dataslate in his hands, "Commander Blackstone requested to see you when you returned."

Trapper sighed, apologizing to Corrus, "Sorry about that – I didn't mean to take it out on you. Where's Blackstone?"

"The pilot's ready room," Corrus thumbed towards the fore of the _Bright Wind_.

Trapper let out a slow breath. That meant the Commander already had a mission for his team.

"Corrus, the shields are shot on my ship, and well, there's Tugboat's Y," he stated, then asked, "Do we have spares available?"

Corrus notably glanced at the broken dataslate, "We have one," he replied quietly. "And you're not going to the head of the repair line again this time. We're already behind on the other squadron's refits."

"Fair enough," Trapper conceded, "Can you at least get us refueled and rearmed?"

"I'll see what I can do," Corrus stated, waving a piece of dataslate at Trapper.

Trapper thanked Corrus, apologizing once again before leaving the hangar. He made his way quickly to the briefing room, and to his surprise found Commander Blackstone waiting for him, poring over a hologram of a small space station.

"Commander?" Trapper saluted Blackstone as he entered.

"Captain Trapper," Blackstone half-smiled, straightening back up. "I heard about your last mission – is Tugboat okay?"

"A little shaken up," Trapper admitted, "but unharmed." When Blackstone nodded, Trapper pointed to the slowly rotating image of the station. "What's that?" he asked.

"It's an Imperial Holonet receiver station," Blackstone mused, "Broadcasting twelve channels of the Emperor's word across the sector," he added.

"Are we going through with the plan to let the Moff tap it for the prisoner's location?" Trapper queried, cocking his head in disdain.

"No," Blackstone replied. "We were attempting to slice into its communications channels when we picked up a signal."

"What kind of signal?" Trapper asked.

"A plea for help, we believe," Blackstone stated. "But we had to cut the mission short before we got the full message," Blackstone pointed to the holographic image, "We've got the _Songbird_ prepped for a mission back to the receiver," he stated, "They requested your group fly cover for them while they get an acoustical splicer attached to the right receiver, so we can get the whole message."

"I hate to ask," Trapper queried, "But why the rush? What's so important about this plea for help?"

"We think it may be a would-be imperial defector," Blackstone replied, "And he's alluding he has information about a secret imperial base somewhere in the sector."

"This sounds awfully convenient after the raids we pulled recently," Trapper stated guardingly.

Blackstone nodded. "I know," he agreed, "But the Empire is up to something in this area – something Moff Larkin is doing his best to conceal. I think this may be our ticket to finding it out."

Trapper exhaled, shaking his head, "Sir this is pretty risky, and I'm down a fighter in my squad."

"Well," Blackstone smiled, "Let's see if we can help in that regard." He flicked a switch on the projector, and the image of the space station switched to that of a new, unfamiliar starship. As the image rotated, the long wing assembly and attached wings spun around the unmoving cockpit.

"It's called a B-Wing," Blackstone stated. "We just got a fresh batch of them in." He added, "Our friend gave us two in consideration for the … issues with the last batch of munitions."

Trapper whistled. "I've heard about them," he said cautiously. "Rumor is the prototype took out a Light Cruiser by itself." He knowingly looked at Blackstone, "Can we trust Calrissian hasn't sabotaged them in some way?"

"We've had our deck crew check them out thoroughly after the last incident," Blackstone admitted. "They appear to be in perfect shape – he'd acquired them as show pieces to show how well his 'spin-sealed' Tibanna gas worked in the blasters."

Trapper thoughtfully stroked the stubble on his chin, "Well," he sighed, "I guess we'll see how well that works out."

BREAK

Kathhound dropped out hyperspace in the lead, flying one of the new B-wings. Mystic's X-Wing dropped out and took up a flanking position on the left as both Trapper's Y-Wing and the HWK-290, _Songbird_ , arrived inbetween the other two ships.

"Okay, let's be in an out before they're on to us," Trapper ordered. "Kath, Mystic – keep any patrols off us until the _Songbird_ can get the package delivered."

"Got it," Kathhound merrily confirmed as he drove the massive B-Wing after a trio of TIE fighters at the far side of the station.

"Understood," Mystic likewise responded, throttling his X-Wing after a duo of TIE fighters in the opposite direction.

With the _Songbird_ following close behind, Trapper drove his Y-Wing at the main base. He easily locked onto the signal from the base, and as soon as he was in range, unleashed an ion torpedo at the array of dishes atop the station. The torpedo exploded in the midst of the three recievers, arcing blue lighting over their surfaces.

"Scanning," the _Songbird_ 's technical operator called out as the ship passed within arm's length of the station.

"The channel's not emanating from the base," the tech op finally called out. "One of the rocks nearby must have a receiver for the channel we need."

Trapper glanced out through his cockpit for the other receiver. He caught a glimpse of Kathhound gleefully dispatching TIE fighters to his right as the huge ship twirled through the incoming fire. To far left, Mystic had aggressively dispatched his TIEs with a single joust, and was already turning to swing back to rejoin Trapper and the _Songbird_ for close support.

"I think I see the receiver," Trapper called as he noticed a flashing red beacon from a nearby asteroid. He swung the Y-Wing about as Kathhound easily finished off the last of the TIES as he unexpectedly looped onto their tail, deftly outmaneuvering the otherwise more maneuverable ships.

"Wait, Trapper – not your ion torpedoes," Kathhound warned as the nose of Trapper's Y-Wing swung to line up the asteroid, but it was too late.

The white hot torpedo rocketed from the Y-Wing and soundly collided with the large antennae dish on the asteroid. Arcing electricity exploded from the compact batteries powering the receiver, and the entire substation exploded in a bright flash moments later.

Trapper froze in horror at what he'd just done.

"That's got their attention," Mystic called out, "I'm picking up Imperial scramble orders. They're ordering a shuttle and escort to launch to investigate."

"Boss, what do we do?" Kathhound called about, turning his B-Wing in case he needed to intercept the shuttle.

Trapper was about to order the group to retreat back to hyperspace when the tech op from the _Songbird_ spoke up. "We're still getting the signal," he notified Trapper. "There must be another receiver nearby."

"Mystic, move over to Kath's position," he ordered, the life returning to him. "Same as before – keep the Imps off us until we get this channel isolated," he called out.

Mystic's X-Wing swept across Trapper's path as the latter followed the _Songbird_ towards the last remaining broadcasting channel.

As the _Songbird_ and Trapper closed on the relay signal, Mystic barked a warning to Kathhound. To Trapper's right, the void of space lit up with a storm of incoming laser fire. The two rebel ships managed to evade the torrent, but their own return fire completely missed their targets.

"We can't hold off these kind of numbers," Mystic warned as he pulled out of the storm of fire to try a different approach. He found his path blocked by the scream of an incoming TIE interceptor, who forced him further afield, away from Kathhound.

"Just hold them off for a few seconds," Trapper stated with gritted teeth.

"We can handle them if we can dispatch the shuttle," Kathhound urged, his spinning B-Wing still weaving through the incoming fire. He managed to land several shots against the incoming shuttle, but the blasts were simply absorbed by the equally massive vessel's shields.

"Kath, no – don't take them head on," Trapper warned, his attention divided between the _Songbird_ sidling up to the last relay and Kathhound's reckless charge.

"Package away," the _Songbird's_ operative finally called after it had finished docking with the relay.

At the exclamation, Trapper jerked his Y-Wing hard to attempt to intercept the advancing shuttle. "Kath, break off – we're done here," he tried to warn.

Kathhound was too deeply engaged as he closed on the shuttle to break away. As the two swept against each other, the heavy blasters on the shuttle caught Kathhound's B-Wing in the joint between the cockpit and the undulating wing aperture. Unexpectedly, the B-Wing suddenly swung to one side, and the wing structure began to spin like an out of control top.

Like a rocket, the out-of-control B-Wing shot past the shuttle, which barely managed to swerve to avoid a head-on collision. With a bright blue flash, the entire B-Wing broke apart, broken metal flying in all directions. The largest section caught the shuttle in the aft, and Trapper could only watch as the engines on the shuttle sputtered for a moment, causing the huge ship to tip slightly nose down.

"Kath!" Mystic roared from nearby, an interceptor on his tail.

"Trapper to _Songbird_ ," Trapper ordered through gritted teeth, "Get to hyperspace and get out of here, now!"

Trapper's Y-Wing lurched towards the momentarily dazed shuttle as he prepared to arm his bomb load to finish off the shuttle and avenge the loss of Kathhound.

"Mystic," Trapper warned as he watched the X-Wing dance to evade the pursing TIE interceptor, "clear out now!'

Mystic wasted no time. After pulling a barrel roll to lose his pursuer, he angled his ship away and vanished into hyperspace.

The interceptor wasted no time to turn on the onrushing Trapper, but Twofer's turret opened up with a barrage of red-hot hate, piercing the oncoming interceptor through the cockpit and turning it into a gaseous fireball.

As Trapper raced at the surviving shuttle, a loud ping sounded from his scope. He momentarily glanced down, and after a moment realized it was the homing beacon from Kathhound's ship.

Squinting out his cockpit, Trapper made out the barrel-like cockpit of the B-Wing, drifting just beyond the shuttle – Kath had escaped the blast!

"Hang on Kath," Trapper called as he changed his approach. He released the magnetic clasps that held his bomb load, letting the bombs harmlessly hurdle away from the Y-Wing. The squadron of TIEs that had accompanied the shuttle peeled away to drive off the charging Y-Wing.

As Trapper approached the shuttle, he manually detonated the bombs, throwing up a bright, explosive cloud between him and the intercepting TIEs. As the shuttle struggled to come about to face the nearby Y-Wing approaching from the rear, Trapper had enough time to ease up to the drifting cockpit. He activated the magnetic clasps, which pulled the small cockpit to his underbelly.

Moments later, as the TIES covering the shuttle finally realized what was going on, Trapper's Y-Wing shot into hyperspace, the B-Wing's cockpit tightly held against the bottom.


	7. Chapter 7

SEVEN – Nobody Home

Cath tossed the broken code cylinder onto the table, which Moff Larkin stared at unhappily. "How long do we have?" Kath asked Trapper, not taking his glare off the Moff.

"The cylinder's homing signal doesn't reach out of hyperspace," Trapper replied as he leaned against the door, his thumb pressed to his mustached lip thoughtfully. "So they'll only have been able to track us while in-between jumps."

"But they probably have our bearing and can make a good guess where we're heading," Mystic replied.

"We're only an hour out from our destination," Tugboat reminded the others. "There's good chance there'll be a welcoming party for us – if they don't intercept us with an interdictor."

"There's no interdictors in this theatre," Mystic reminded Tugboat. "But there is the Moff's good Star Destroyer _Eclipse_ in the area – looking for him."

"Well, we better let Commander Blackstone know," Trapper thought aloud. "He's not going to be happy rescheduling this refueling."

"What do we do with him?" Cath indicated the Moff with a bob of his head.

"I have an idea," Trapper said, standing up. "Let's get him to his shuttle."

The gray, powered down lambda shuttle quietly hung at the edge of the junkyard, with only the tail beacon flashing. Amid the abandoned wrecks of the Pyrrus junkyard, the various rebel ships were scattered within the wreckage, as lifeless as the floating lambda shuttle.

" _Eclipse_ is dropping a recovery patrol," Mystic thumbed his headset as his X-wing drifted inside the nearby skeletal hulk of a bulk freighter. "They'll be here in two. _Eclipse_ will be in range in five."

"That's going to be cutting it close," Trapper said softly to Bear, who gave a growl in agreement.

The pathfinders had towed the previously captured Moff's shuttle to an easily visible edge of the great junkyard and left the damaged shuttle in a spot, that while easily visible, was difficult to bring a repair ship abreast of the crippled shuttle.

"What is a bomber doing accompanying the retrieval crew?" Tugboat, who was closest to the approaching group suddenly asked over the comm.

Trapper gritted his teeth at the broadcast, but double-checked his scopes. The recovery crew, led by the scream of incoming interceptor consisted of a flight of four ties, another lambda shuttle and sure enough, a lagging tie bomber.

A moment later, the entire TIE group swung away from the shuttle, in the direction of tugboat's nearby hidden Y-wing. All the Pathfinder members had their ships at minimal power to avoid detection as they drifted amid the surrounding junk. "Damn it," Trapper said to Bear through gritted teeth, "They heard that."

As the recovery group arced in Tugboat's direction, the Y-wing suddenly shot out of hiding, darting behind the patrol. As the Y-wing passed behind the tie bomber, the Y-wing released an ion bomb, apparently attempting to catch the lagging bomber and shuttle.

"That's our cue," Trapper called to the others, throwing his Y-wing to full power. To his left, Cath's B-Wing rolled up from behind the scattered debris of a slowly twirling hulk as Mystic's X-wing exploded out of an abandoned bulk freighter on the right. However, even as the three ships appeared, Tugboat's bomb sailed past its target and into a scattering of debris.

"More bad munitions," Tugboat called out in frustration as he pulled the Y-wing in a wide arc to make a second pass at the recovery shuttle. So far, the leading TIE fighters had ignored him as they continued to cut a path for the recovery shuttle to the Moff's shuttle.

The TIE interceptor, which had started to pull towards Tugboat's Y-wing as soon as the latter had revealed itself, found itself directly in the sights of Cath's B-Wing. Lasers flashed from the four cannons on the B-wing and the interceptor exploded, the fireball of its canopy harmlessly spraying the side of the recovery shuttle.

Mystic spiraled through a barrage of green laser fire from the approaching TIEs as he shot past them to lay fire into the recovery shuttle itself. As he did, Cath's B-Wing rolled in from the side, his own weapon's fire adding to Mystic's strafing.

"I'm on the bomber," Trapper called out as the two ships honed in towards each other. Bear spat laser fire from the turret as the bomber returned fire. Red lasers scored the bomb pod of the TIE as green lasers flashed blue splashes over the nose of Trapper's Y-wing as the two ships bore down on one another. As the Y-wing rocked from the splash hits, Trapper called out to Tugboat, "Keep those TIEs off the Moff's shuttle!"

Nearby, the huge sail of the recovery shuttle shattered under the weight of Mystic's and Cath's fire, and as black smoke spiraled out of the wound, Mystic completed his pass and lined up on the tail of the craft. Torpedoes lanced from Mystic and Cath's ship, and the recovery shuttle exploded in a dual ball of flame.

As the shuttle detonated, Mystic pulled up from the approaching TIE bomber, releasing cluster mines as he slung the Y-wing over the TIE. Trapper's modified bombs adhered to the TIE's solar sails and bomb pod as the TIE bomber flung past, attempting to spin in a vain attempt to rid itself of the attached explosives. Midspin, Mystic detonated the mines, reducing the TIE bomber to a billowing ball of green flame.

"This is like shooting fish in a barrel," Cath commented as he brought his B-Wing about to facing the remaining TIE swarm. The enemy ships seemed confused by the loss of the recovery shuttle.

"We've got a minute to finish the mop up before the _Eclipse_ is in range of the junk field," Mystic warned. "The TIE pilots are confused – they're arguing over whether to rescue the Moff or chase us."

"Let's make their decision for them," Trapper retorted. "Close on the TIEs and take them out," he ordered.

"Not a problem," Cath smiled as his B-Wing made a pass at the buzzing TIEs. His shots exploded one TIE as he entered the swarm, and he caught another as he exited. Even as Cath made his exit, Mystic brought his X-Wing about in an attack run, removing another TIE fighter. "That cost me my last shield," Mystic noted as he pulled away, "I'm going to have to cut out."

"Two more incoming, boss," Tugboat exclaimed as he turned his Y-Wing away from a pair of incoming TIEs.

"Okay," Trapper noted, "Let's finish this and get out of here – Tugboat, Cath – the last TIE is staying close to the Moff's shuttle. Arm any torpedoes you have remaining and make one last pass. We can't leave the shuttle intact."

"Gladly," Cath responded, bringing his B-Wing about. Tugboat, still evading the incoming TIE reinforcements, wove a path towards the drifting shuttle as Trapper approached from Tugboat's right. As the three ships neared the shuttle, Tugboat throttled back and slipped under the rolling corpse of a freighter, allowing his pursuers to shoot past him. Moments later, torpedoes lanced outward from the three rebel vessels, speeding towards the gray shuttle nearby.

The shuttle exploded with a flash, catching all three nearby TIEs with the resulting explosion. Already, the three rebel ships were pulling away from the brilliant orange explosion, disappearing into the vast junkyard.

"That's it for now, boys," Trapper called out. "Split up and head towards the rendezvous point."

"And that's how you deal with a Moff," Cath happily called out as his B-wing vanished into a dense mass of freighter hulks.


	8. Chapter 8

MINER'S STRIKE

"We finally got a lead?" Cath asked.

"Yep, Calrissian has been backtracking Imperial weapon shipments in the area cutting into his exclusive Tibanna gas agreements," Trapper nodded. "We've found out that the Imperials have been using convicts as a slave labor force on the 3rd moon of Nulan. Specifically," Trapper announced, "These convicts are political prisoners and dissidents – including your parents," he stated to Cath, bringing up the holographic display of the planet and bringing the third moon into focus. "But, that facility is not our goal," he cautioned. "They have an orbital storage area above the moon where they are amassing weapons grade material for shipment out of the system."

Trapper turned to the entire group as he pointed to the projection of the floating landing platform and drifting red-marked crates. "Our job is to strike this facility and draw the garrison's attention away from the moon."

"Meanwhile, the _Songbird_ will be inserting a commando drop team onto the surface," Trapper continued, "They'll hit the ground facility and gather up the prisoners there. We have to keep the garrison occupied until they finish their operations, and then cripple any fighters in the area."

"How are they going to get the prisoners out?" Cath asked cautiously. "The _Songbird_ can only hold a few people at best."

"Ten, total," Trapper noted. "But there are several shuttles in the area used for transporting the materials from the surface mines to the area we'll be striking. As long as we take out the orbital gun emplacements, those prisoner-packed shuttles ought to be able to simply slip out of the system unopposed."

"So, there's a lot riding on us taking this depot out," Cath noted.

"You bet," Trapper replied grimly. "Are you up to this?"

Cath nodded grimly, as the rest of the group joined in with a curt nod of their own chins.

Trapper let his gaze fix on Cath, "I'm looking forwards to a dinner with you and your parents tonight," he let himself smile.

A cluster of explosions rocked the western-most gun emplacement at Nulan III. The damaged gun's turret tried to sluggishly follow Mystic's X-wing as it sped past, but the whole emplacement exploded as a single torpedo from Tugboat's following Y-wing slammed into the weakened structure.

"The dockmaster is recalling the shuttles back to the moon," Mystic noted as he arced towards a second emplacement on the east side of the floating dockyard. "They've finished unloading them to boot."

As Cath's B-Wing bored down on a second emplacement, Trapper responded, "Good, our silent approach gave them enough time – that will make the _Songbird's_ job a little easier." Trapper was still on approach as the laser fire from the B-Wing caused the stirring gun emplacement to violently explode. "Hey, leave some for the rest of us," Trapper protested.

"Don't worry," Cath responded as he rolled his B-Wing away from the explosion, "We've got two flights of TIE's incoming from the moon to keep us busy enough."

"Well, let's keep them distracted," Trapper replied as a flashing light on his panel indicated the _Songbird_ had reached its destination. "Tug, let's stir the hornet's nest."

"On it boss," Tugboat replied as his wide-sweeping Y-Wing slung about towards a somewhat distant cluster of floating crates. A torpedo later, and a blinding flash erupted from the crates. Those that did not outright explode began to smoulder as the hazard-striped Y-wing careened past the mess.

The TIEs roared in at full throttle, intent on avenging the damage dealt to the dockyards. Mystic easily picked off the lead of the trio that raced towards him, forcing its companions to dodge aside as he himself spun through the brilliant orange explosion.

Meanwhile, Cath had lined his ship on the second incoming trio. The heavy laser cannons easily made short work of the first and second TIE, and the third narrowly slipped aside as Cath pulled the B-Wing in a high loop to pursue the screaming TIE fighter as it dashed past.

The remainder of the two TIE swarms converged towards Trapper's crimson Y-Wing, trying to shower the slow-moving fighter's shields and hull with green laser fire. Twofer let the Y-Wing's turret respond, glancing one of the incoming TIEs radiator-like wings as Trapper deftly twirled through the incoming fire. As the three TIEs were practically on top of each other, Trapper dove down, releasing a barrage of cluster mines in his wakes. The speeding TIEs could not avoid the jettisoned mines. The rightmost tie clipped one of the mines and the resulting explosion sent it spiraling into its partner. For a brief moment the two remaining TIES ricocheted back and forth between the mines like a ball bearing under a pinball wizard's control before the entire microfield of mines blossomed like orange flowers around the devastation.

"Whoooo!" Trapper called aloud as he glanced back at the carnage, "They'll feel that in the morning!"

"And the morning after," Cath added as he brought his B-Wing about.

"I'm picking up an interceptor on approach, flanked by two TIEs," Mystic called out.

"That would be Baron Rem," Trapper noted, "The base's resident ace."

"I'm on him," Cath retorted, bringing his B-wing about towards the approaching fighter.

"Mystic, back Cath up," Trapper warned. There was still one heavy cannon in the dockyard spewing fire at the group now, and as Mystic flashed past Trapper to aid Cath, Trapper brought his Y-wing to vector in on the remaining gun. To his left, he caught sight of Tugboat making another run on the remaining containers as the yellow Y-wing slipped past the twin shuttles fleeing the devastation they were causing.

"Trapper – need help over here," came a sudden call from Tugboat. Trapper instinctively pulled off from his attack run and looked over to Tugboat's position. The yellow y-wing was snaking away from more smouldering crates, but a space-black TIE bomber was pursuing the now-sparking y-wing. A barrage of missile trails streaked out from the bomber, arcing towards the evading y-wing. Tugboat narrowly missed being splattered by dropping a torpedo aft into the cluster and detonating it seconds before they hit.

"Where the hell did that come from?" Trapper asked towards Twofer as the gunner swung about and began to spray fire at the sleek bomber, forcing it to dodge away into the cluster of smoking crates.

"Trap," Tugboat called, narrowly evading another barrage from the TIE bomber by leading the swarm of missiles into a floating crate, "I think the Baron's in the bomber – not the interceptor," he warned.

Meanwhile, Cath and Mystic sped towards the TIE interceptor's flight, with Cath in the lead. The interceptor opened fire first, green laser splashing harmlessly against Cath's hull as he spun the thin wings to evade further hits. In return, Cath's heavy lasers caught the interceptor's wingmen, turning them instantly into orange fireballs.

The two ships – Cath and the interceptor raced towards one other, heavy fire pouring from both ships. Cath spun his own ship through the foursome lances of fire from the interceptor while his opponent juked to avoid the heavy cannon fire from Cath's spinning guns.

Yet it was Cath who blinked first, diving his own ship down as the two ships closed the last few clicks before striking one another. But as Cath's ship dove, it revealed the waiting X-wing of Mystic behind it, whose synchronized blast from all four laser cannons flashed towards the enemy interceptor.

The Interceptor tried to juke to one side, only for the overpowering shot from the X-wing to catch it in the joint between cockpit and wing. The bent wing sheared off in one direction as the remaining wing and cockpit assembly slung off in the other direction and spun off into the last remaining dock cannon, exploding spectacularly.

"That's how you do it," Cath jeered over the intercom, drawing a surprising grunt of agreement from Mystic.

"Heads up," Trapper called to the two as he carefully brought his y-wing around to the mazework of crates where the TIE bomber had vanished, "we've still got to get rid of these crates – and that bomber."

As the proximity alarms in Cath's B-wing went off, Mystic warned, "We've got another problem – an Imperial corvette has just dropped out of hyperspace. Someone must have gotten a distress call off."

"Sorry about that," Tugboat called, "That TIE bomber fragged my jammers with that missile shot."

"So much for an easy in and out," Trapper mumbled. "Tug – you got any more torpedoes?"

"Just one," Tugboat called out, bringing his y-wing back around to start his last run on the weapon crates.

"I've got one left too," Mystic called out, peeling away from Cath towards the crate.

"Hey, what am I supposed to do?" Cath asked.

Trapper glanced to the approaching corvette as it glided toward the dock. His scanner lit up with a mass of quickly approaching objects.

"Stall them," Trapper called out, nodding to the incoming swarm of TIEs on his scanners. "But get ready to run."

"What about the _Songbird?"_ Cath asked. "They'll be no match for a corvette – neither will the shuttles."

"Mystic, appraise them of our situation," Trapper ordered, "Tell them to take the backdoor route away from the moon. With any luck, the corvette won't think to scan the shuttles on the way out – they'll think they're just trying to get clear of the attack."

"If the Imps don't fall for it?" Cath inquired.

"Then we bait them away from the shuttles," Trapper replied, launching his last torpedo salvo into the crates. "By any means necessary."

As Trapper's torpedo detonated into the stack of crates, the resulting explosion drove the scuttling black TIE bomber into the open. It was racing away from the last remaining flotilla of weapon crates, straight towards Tugboat's onrushing y-wing.

The TIE bomber spewed missiles as Tugboat's fixed turret and forward guns lashed out, trying both to shoot down the barrage of missiles and hit the TIE at the same time. While Tug managed to shoot down the majority of the missiles, he neither tagged the TIE in return nor completely evaded the barrage. For a second, the y-wing disappeared in a billowing ball of green flame as the missile impacted with the cockpit. Already, the TIE bomber had pulled away as it had sensed the kill, and was now streaking towards Trapper's y-wing.

"Tug!" Trapper found himself yelling in dismay before the smoking and careening y-wing reappeared from the flash.

"I'm okay," Tug called, though his ship limped at an obvious angle and trailed smoke, "last of my shields took the brunt."

"Hang on, Trapper," Cath called as the huge B-wing started to nose away from the onrushing TIEs. Likewise, Mystic was arcing his X-wing through the remaining docks to link up with Trapper.

"Stay where you are, Cath," Trapper called back to both Cath. "Keep those TIEs busy – I'll deal with this joker." As the TIE bomber arced to chase Trapper, the deft y-wing pilot arced away as twofer began to lay turret fire at the speedy bomber.

"Mystic - Tug, I need your torps now," Trapper ordered as the bomber veered to follow Trapper's evading y-wing.

"I can't get a lock on him from this distance," Mystic countered as he weaved through the remains of the smoking docks.

"Not the bomber," Trapper gritted as he swung the y-wing under the laser fire from the TIE bomber and heard the warning tone of a missile lock, "Aim for the last stash."

Simultaneously, Mystic's veering X-wing and Tugboat's listing Y-wing unloaded their last torpedo at the distant stationary stack of floating weapon crates.

Mystic's shot was true, the torpedo striking and setting the crates to smoldering – but they did not explode. Unfortunately, Tugboat's torpedo spun away wildly. "That last hit took out my guidance system!" Tug complained as the torpedo haphazardly slid askew of the crates.

Across the dock, Cath's B-wing evaded the incoming fire of the advance lead of a twin pair of onrushing TIEs. The B-wing spat fire back, quickly turning the two TIEs into blossoming balls of flame, but it seemed a legion followed in their wake. "Trapper, I'm not going to be able to hold them for long," Cath warned.

"Okay, new plan," Trapper grunted to himself as the sleek black TIE bomber was directly following Trapper's crimson y-wing. Trapper glanced at his scopes to make sure he was on track to his target when he heard the launch alarm buzz at him. A hail of missiles erupted from the TIE bomber's bomb pod, streaking towards the y-wing.

The wookie twofer growled at the onrushing swarm, spraying the closing missiles with fire from the turret. Trapper slung his deflector shields aft as he pulled hard on the ship's control stick, looping the y-wing in an inverted left turn. Even with the deft maneuver two rockets slammed into the hind quarter of the y-wing, rocking the ship from the explosions against the blue splash of the y-wing's shields.

Almost too late, the TIE bomber pilot caught the glint of metal dropped from the evading y-wing moments before it pulled away. Had it been any other imperial pilot, he would have slammed straight into the debris. There was nowhere for the swift-moving bomber to go but bounce up over the dropped debris. The pilot was so focused on dodging the glittering scatter from Trapper's y-wing repair kit that it never realized it had bounced up into Tugboat's errant torpedo.

The torpedo flashed as it impacted with the TIE bomber's wing, sending it into a flat spin. Out of control, the damaged bomber slammed into the smoking pile of weapon crates – detonating the bomb pod on impact. In turn, the smouldering weapon crates exploded violently as well, illuminating the dock area with one last, massive fireball.

Trapper took a moment to glance at his handiwork. His scopes had gone dead after the impact with the incoming missiles, but his ship was still intact. "That's a beautiful display," Mystic called from nearby, "but isn't it getting time to leave?"

Trapper was about to respond when his transmitter flicked to life. "Pathfinders this is _Songbird_ ," a crackling voice called out, "We're clear of the planet – repeat, clear of the planet. See you at the rendezvous point."

"That's our signal," Trapper called out as he swung his ship about to gauge the approaching flock of TIE fighters. "Everyone scatter."

Cath wasted no time. He had already plotted his hyperspace course, and as a rush of angry TIE fighters came within reach to swarm him, his B-wing shot away and disappeared into the void. The TIEs barely had time to nose towards Mystic before the x-wing vanished as well, disappearing into a separate vector.

Trapper clenched his teeth as he started to swing away from the swooping TIEs. With his scopes dead, he knew there was no way for his astromech droid, Bear, to plot a course away in hyperspace. His only hope now would be to dip the y-wing into the ionosphere of the moon and hope he could find some way to evade the Imperial's eyes and sensors.

Twofer was aligning the turret to take down the first wave of the encroaching TIEs when Bear let out a loud chirp.

"What do you mean you've got the co-ordinates for a jump?" Trapper asked aloud.

Twofer growled, pointing to the y-wing's port side. Trapper looked, to see the smoking hazard-striped y-wing of Tugboat maneuvering nearby. Tugboat was close enough he could see the pilot salute him before the ship flashed away into hyperspace.

"P9 transferred the co-ordinates to you?" Trapper smiled over the comm to Bear as his hand flicked to hyperspace engagement lever. "Well, we've got a dinner to get to," he continued slamming the lever forward, "so let's get!" A moment later, and the crimson y-wing likewise vanished into hyperspace.


End file.
